The minimum wage in New Jersey will start its climb to $15 an hour once Gov. Phil Murphy signs the bill lawmakers passed on Thursday that boosts the wage for workers in a series of steps.

Under the bill, most of New Jersey’s low-wage workers would see the minimum wage rise to $10 an hour in July and jump another $1 each Jan. 1 until reaching $15 an hour in 2024. The current minimum rate is $8.85 an hour.

Murphy, a Democrat, said he plans to sign the measure on Monday.

Some employees — seasonal workers, employees at businesses with fewer than six workers and farm laborers — would see their wages increase on a slower timeline. Those groups would see their first wage boost, to $10.30, at the beginning of next year.

There were about 100,000 workers in New Jersey making the minimum wage in 2017, the most recent year there is complete data available, according to the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

The bill passed in the Legislature largely along party lines, with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposed. The vote was 23-16 in the Senate and 52-25 in the Assembly.

That division reflected the national fault lines over the wisdom of minimum wage hikes, with conservatives warning of the elimination of jobs, price increases and unintended consequences, and liberals focusing on better pay for workers, economic stimulus and reduced taxpayer spending on assistance programs.

Once the bill becomes law, New Jersey will become the fourth state to commit to significantly raising incomes, after California, New York and Massachusetts. Murphy has long advocated for a $15 minimum wage as a way to provide workers with a “livable wage.”

"On Monday, I’ll sign this bill into law," Murphy said on Twitter shortly after the Thursday votes by lawmakers. "Working families can’t wait."

Several other cities across the country, including Seattle, Minneapolis and Washington, D.C., as well as some major employers, including Amazon and Target, have also enacted a $15 wage or announced their intention to do so amid a growing national movement to address income inequality.

The bill moved rapidly through the Legislature after Murphy agreed to a compromise with Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, two weeks ago.

The measure had previously been delayed for months as the Democratic leaders argued over the timeline for phasing in the increases and which types of workers, if any, would be excluded. Murphy, who wanted no exemptions, and Sweeney, who initially proposed teenagers and slightly larger businesses be left out, met halfway.

Businesses, conservatives object

The bill’s speedy progress came despite concerns raised by Republicans, business representatives and municipalities, who worry that higher wages will make it even harder to do business in New Jersey and put upward pressure on property taxes. New Jersey already has among the highest property taxes and corporate business taxes in the nation.

Opponents have also argued, to no avail, for a mechanism in the bill to freeze wage increases in the event of an economic downturn, which could force business owners to make tough decisions about cutting jobs.

"Campaign promises are one thing, but good policy is another, and this is not good policy," Sen. Kip Bateman, R-Somerset, said Thursday, referring to Murphy's campaign pledge to enact a $15 minimum wage.

Democrats, however, have commanding majorities in both houses of the Legislature and were able to pass the measure without Republican support.

"There might be some things we might have to change with this bill as we go forward," Sweeney conceded Thursday on the Senate floor. "But the time of arguing over a $15 minimum wage is over."